Irreconcilable Differences
by MidnightStarr
Summary: Paul gets bitten by a vampire and Rachel isn't around to take care of him. So, Leah decides to step in. And really; with those two in the same room, does the situation ever end up as anything besides messy? Well, that... And more. PaulxLeah.
1. Chapter 1

**MS: **Helloooooo alll my loveliessss :) It has been WAY too long right? I know, I know... Fuck. First year of uni really takes it outta you man; tough shit. But, I am happy to declare that in no less than 4 weeks, summer break will be upon me :D And that means updates and new oneshots and fics ;) Lemmeeee at it! So guys I hope you haven't given up hope for me yet; because I will soon be back in action. ;)

This little number is dedicated to my bff Maggy (StealthLiberal). She requested some hot PaulxLeah lovins and I'm here to deliver ;) This will be a two-shot, maximum of a three-shot by the time it's all wrapped up and I just hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as she and I enjoyed planning it and I enjoyed waiting to surprise her with it. ;)

So without further ado; my first Twilight forray, that is not LeahxSam.

* * *

><p><em>'Apparently they're newborns... So they'll be fast. Fast, and strong.'<em>

_'Aren't all vampires fast and strong Jake?'_

_'Well... Fast_er_, and strong_er_.'_ The stringent Alpha sighed mentally, his tail a-flicking behind him and fur standing on edge. It had been an eventful month, for the pack... Lots of fighting to be had. It just seemed like word had spread about the formidable shapeshifters inhabiting the Olympic penninsula; apparently gossip existed even in vampiric society.

How the gossip got out, however, the pack had no idea.

It's not like any vampire ever lived to tell the tale.

Paul's large grey muzzle pulled back to bare his teeth._ 'So how close are they? When do we move?'_

_'Alice said we have a minute to set up an attack front; actually plan this crap for once.'_ Sam looked at his fellow Alpha and nodded his large black head. Jacob had stepped into his role as Alpha of the La Push pack when they had reunited, and as much as it was a pain in the furry ass sometimes to have two alphas, Sam and Jacob had made it work and coordinated completely.

There were differences, of course, and not all members were happy with the packs reuniting (Leah and Paul were distinctly two of them). But, bloodthirsty vampires and cloaked Volturi really didn't give one much choice about who his or her allies should be.

Or who they should battle beside, as it turns out.

_'Me and Jacob have decided privately about the battle line.'_ Leah resisted the urge to roll her eyes as Sam began to speak. The days were closing in on the Young-Uley wedding, and well... No one was more depressed than Leah lately. Depressed... And pissed. And of course, she'd been happier as part of Jacob's pack... But that was _just _Jacob's pack. With her brother, Embry, and Quil. Now she'd been thrusted back into Sam's mind with Paul, Jared, and the twins to annoy her along with her ex-boyfriend and his lovey-dovey imprint obsession.

Fun times.

_'So we don't organize ourselves by rank this time?'_ Embry tweaked his ears in curiosity, wondering just what his alphas had been planning. Usually, when it came time to defend the pack was quite standard about who ran beside who. The only exception was Leah, really; she'd always run close or with Seth and while that wasn't her rank (she and Paul were tied for Beta, Paul with Sam, Leah with Jake), she and her younger brother worked efficiently together and that was what counted.

Until today.

_'Nope, not this time Embry. Just run with it; we're gonna see if this works.' _Jacob and Sam exchanged looks, and then had the pack line up according to usual battle strategy.

Jacob and Sam, side by side would lead the pack onto the battlefield.  
>Paul would be behind them, Jared at his flank as a Beta and a quick thinker.<br>Embry and Quil came then, commonly referred to as 'dumb and dumber' weren't so dumb on the battlefield as they made out to be.  
>Leah would be fighting beside her brother, who'd technically hold rank by himself.<br>And then Collin and Brady would be bringing up the rear. (The two were the only youngsters who had phased that Sam and Jake were confidant enough in to actually reprise a role in battle.)

As their wolves looked at them with pondering faces, Jacob and Sam could _see _the wheels turning in the shewolf's head. Hear them too, actually. Gotta love pack mentality.

She was silently threatening them about moving her away from her brother.

Too bad.

_'We gotta do this quick. So no arguments.'_ Sam looked at Seth. _'Move into the back; behind Brady and Collin. Newborns are fast; we need the coverage.'_ Seth shrugged his wolfish shoulders and slunk back behind Collin and Brady. Leah watched him go, then raised a mental brow at her alphas and did _not _like the look she received in return.

_'Jared,'_ Sam acknowledged his third, _'You're going to take Seth's place. But Paul-'_

_'But Paul WHAT?'_ The large grey wolf rumbled grumpily. '_I'm the Beta Sam; I don't move.'_

_'You're _A_ beta; dumbass.'_ Leah chided mentally and Paul growled at her. Typical, typical.

_'Knock it off you two, we don't have the time!'_ Jacob growled, and against their judgement, Leah and Paul flattened their ears but shut up. _'Now Leah, move up beside Paul. Stop bitching at eachother and just do your job.'_

The chorus was instantaneous, and quick as the muscle.

_'NO!'_

But then it was too late.

_'They're on us_...!' Sam and Jacob turned and raced onto the field as the sparkling bodies appeared on the meadow's edge across the way, gleaming in the sunlight beautifully but holding so much sinister inside.

_'Oh COME ON!' _Paul snapped, as he Leah were forced to push forward and run side by side. Paul watched the small white wolf out of the corner of his eye. She was moving too damn fast, she was gonna outrun him! _'Slow DOWN, Leah!'_

_'Oh FUCK YOU Paul, there's no TIME for this!'_

And quite frankly, there wasn't.

Alice had been right to tell them to develop a strategy. The Cullens' pale bodies, golden eyes gleamed from the west side of the mountain clearing as well, also ready to stop this ragtag group of newborns that had been rude enough to bulldoze their way onto protected property. Who'd created them was not of the question; not yet, anyways. First it was ripping apart and burning the fuckers.

And they were high in numbers.

Jake and Sam had been the first two into the fray; they always were. Teeth gnashing, eyes savage and they were set to kill. Hell, if Leah had the time to look, she would've admired the streamline way that her ex navigated the field. For his age, Sam wasn't at all lacking in any skill compared to the younger wolves.

Then again, he never was.

Brady and Collin did their usual; they each branched out from side to side, Brady tackling the right while Collin handled the left. The way they moved in sync, linked by both age and interests and talent it had seemed the two to be twins for quite a while. In fact, sometimes, they were referred to as such. When the two got off on their joyous tangents about kills they'd made together, the pack called it 'Twinning'. It was both cute... And insanely annoying.

Seth had been bringing up the rear for this fight, and as his pack speared out from side to side he ran straight up the middle behind his alphas; ready to receive any threats that evaded Sam and Jacob. He'd grown up a lot since the Volturi left... Both in skill, and in responsibility. It made Leah proud of him, to be honest; not that she'd ever mention it. Seth's ears flickered both left and right; Leah could tell that he wasn't... Anxious; that wasn't the right word. But... Weirded out, about not fighting beside her when they'd grown so accustomed to fighting as a team. Leah was the same way... Paul was a bigggggg stretch from her supportive brother.

Jared was a good fighter. He was decent in all areas: Speed, agility, aim, stealth, power... But he also relied a lot on structure, and that was clear today simply because Jared had been having a hard time knowing just where to go and who to back up. He was doing alright; he really was. He was just picking off any random bloodsucker he could get his jaws on. And that was fine too.

Embry and Quil were almost hard to describe... Leah had tried to figure out their fighting style quite a few times, but honestly, it usually added up to a little showboating and that was that. Quil did the gloating; Embry did the quiet, prideful smirk that made her smirk in return and roll her eyes. They were good as a team, and good apart. But wolves were pack animals.

And they would always prefer to work as a team.

Well... Most of the time.

Paul leapt clean over Leah's head; brought the shewolf up solid, skidding across the meadow and tearing up about an acre's worth of land while she was at it while Paul nailed her vampire. It was a plucky brunette little thing; Leah liked to think it was the pixie vampire. But, her chance was lost as Paul severed head from shoulders and with a mighty heave of his jawls, tossed the grimacing, pale face right into the pile that had seemed to be adding up of lost and unanimous vampire parts.

_'GODDAMMIT PAUL!' _Leah snarled at him, snapped her teeth when he paused to look at her and earned a growl in return.

_'Screw you Leah, you're just pissed I beat you to it!'_

_'You WISH you could beat me!'_

_'ENOUGH!'_ Once again, that voice which Leah detested the most sounded out in her head and Sam's command worked fast; slammed Leah and Paul's mouths shut, had them backing up away from eachother like earlier. _'We're STILL in BATTLE here, if you two would've cared so much to notice! Now BREAK IT UP and get back in there!'_

Leah and Paul traded another glance and she growled; he chuckled mentally.

_'Betcha hate havin' to listen to Sam again.'_

And then he was off; gallivanting back into the destruction.

So much for the two working together.

That comment made Leah's blood boil... And when the battle was over, she'd made up her mind; Paul was going to get an awful fucking rude awakening. Yes... She did hate listening to Sam again. Already, she could hear her ex-lover's old, tired, mental sigh.

_'Leah... I mean it. Put your head back into the damn game.'_

So... That was what she did.

Leah turned her head towards the direction Paul had ran, watched him leap another vampire who was running to meet him face to face. It was funny... Since the newborn she'd tried to handle after the first newborn battle the pack had faced, the one that got Jacob hurt... The pack had been strictly advised against such brutal, head-to-head tackles. Use the speed; use the agility. Get the job done right, with less risk to yourself.

For the love of fuck... Leah hadn't even been sure if she wanted to come out the other side of that newborn battle alive, and yet Jacob got himself hurt and had the nerve to call it 'saving her ass.'

And now Paul; doing just what they were warned against, and going to get no reprimandment whatsoever once the battle was won.

Typical.

So, Leah figured... _'Why the hell not?'_

White legs began to race across the meadow, almost instantly hot on Paul's trail. She'd always had a gift for speed; drove the guys nuts. Leah was usually a teaser, when people failed; not a showboater, when she had succeeded. But in races... God love Leah; god hate her fucking guts. It was nigh about two seconds for Leah to catch up to Paul, who was still driving himself into his enemy with gnashing teeth, spit flying and clawed paws tearing up the earth. He'd stolen Leah's chance from her... He deserved to suffer the same.

Leah took Paul's abrasive battling strategy as her hole, and when Paul reared onto his back legs to tower in height over the gleaming bloodsucker, Leah dove right underneath his belly and knocked the vampire head over heels; the two then rolling, bowling into the trees like pins struck at an alley.

_'LEAH!' _His anger was blunt, to the point and as he came to four paws again, he snarled viciously at her from where he stood. The fucking nerve of her... His silver fur bristled as he watched Leah effectively deduce a leg, than an arm from her target and kept the freak yowling and trying futilely to fight back against the massive creature tearing him to bits. Paul had been riding the edge of his patience with the shewolf since the battle had begun, and he thought maybe he'd tear a chunk of her hide out himself when she got back up into the meadow.

A moment later and Leah's solitary fight had been won; she drug the majority of the body up over the short hill, heaving the torso with a toss toward the pire before turning her white head back to Paul.

And then she was running as he was growling.

_'You cocky cunt, you KNEW I had that fucker-'_

_'Paul WATCH OUT!'_

Paul paused a second too long. Two more bloodsuckers had leapt him from behind, taking the large wolf cleanly to the ground and if that _bitch _hadn't occupied SO MUCH of his damn attention, he would've seen them coming.

One of the vampires sunk his teeth into Paul's back leg and he snarled in rage; tore at the vampire's face with a paw before he could inject any of the lethal shit they carried in their veins. Leah pumped her thin legs faster, eating up the distance between herself the two vampires on her comrade. Friggen Paul... Always spent too much time bitching and complaining when he should've spent more time concentrating.

Soon Leah had also crashed into the battle, jaws locked on the throat of the bloodsucker currently attached to Paul's back limb and pulling the white demon away from him. By now the rest of the pack had taken out their enemies and were sending out the warning howls, cursing and yelling in the packmind to get to Paul and aid their brother.

_'Paul needs help!'  
>'Get to Paul and Leah! Now!'<br>'Two left!'_

The chorus of voices made it hard to determine just who was who, not that Leah and Paul were actually listening. As Leah tugged one vamp off of Paul the downed wolf seized the opportunity to stagger back onto his feet; one lame back leg be damned. Paul turned to face the vampire leering at him, teeth bared in an ugly, intimidating grimace.

(Well, _nothing_ intimidated Paul. Except for the female menstrual cycle; but that was another story.)

The vampire Paul faced was tall. Statuesque, built. A young face... A teenager. Maybe, if Leah concentrated hard enough she could imagine the green, or maybe blue twinkle somewhere beyond those sunken red eyes of the monster he now was. It was never a fleeting thought in the minds of the pack when they faced someone who obviously once had such undeniable promise as a human. This man looked athletic; wide arms, big biceps. Maybe a football player, or a boxer.

_'You're gonna get your's, you sick son of a bitch... You're gonna fuckin' pay for taking that kid's life.'_

And with that, Paul leapt for their last foe and Leah had stepped forward to help... But soon stood still in her tracks. Quil and her brother had phased back to human beside and behind her, picking up the pieces of diamond flesh and flinging it into the flames of the pire they'd built earlier. Sam too had stopped to watch the last battle, but Jacob had gone sniffing around the edges of the clearing just to make sure they were finally, nearly rid of the vermin that threatened their otherwise calm reservation.

Leah cocked one white ear, and sat down on the torn up grass. Listening to the inner workings of her most volatile packmate's mind as he fought and piece by piece, reduced the vampire to granite shavings on the forest floor.

_'Goddamn piece of shit... I hope you burn in hell for hurting that boy!'_

She'd always recognized Paul as the man who was enthralled with being a wolf. Enchanted in the power he'd been given even if it came with fur, claws and a tail. Fuck someone with an ego the size of New England, like Paul's, thought he still looked hot as an animal. Leah could remember many a situation where Paul wouldn't bring up the emotional, touchy side of protecting their tribe. When the notion of losing someone to the vampires was brought up, Paul digressed the conversation and would always end it with some haughty remark: _'Yeah well we ain't gonna lose nobody to those friggen things, are we? So shut up about it.'_

Until that moment, listening to Paul think of nothing; not even the venomous pain he was sure to be feeling from his bitten leg. Nothing except what that vampire had the nerve to take away from such a young soul, Leah had never pictured Paul as someone with... More going on. For lack of a better term; a heart.

She was snapped out of her thoughts however with a rude snort from the black wolf beside her.

_'The fight's over Leah. Everyone's phasing back.'_

Leah shook the fur of her head and neck out (mostly her brain), and looked at Sam with lingering thoughts of Paul still echoing through her mind. _'Oh... Yeah.'_

Then she ran for the treeline and pulled on some clothes as she became human. She didn't feel Sam's eyes burning into her back before he too phased from four legs to two.

When Leah came jogging across the meadow again, Jacob and Sam had knelt down beside Paul where he sat on the grass. All of him human as well, the damage to his limb was clearly visible now and Leah silently hoped that it looked worse than it was.

It was roughly a five centimeter puncture, nearly a gash with the typical curvature shape of bite wounds. Ruby blood still trickled down the expanse of Paul's calf but it wasn't the coppery smell nor the sight that sickened the pack. It was the paling of the ragged edges of flesh running along the wound. Whitening of the skin around the bites usually occured before the inflammation and the fever of venom poisoning sunk in. So, it looked as though Paul had been infected with a little more juice than they'd hoped for.

"Looks deep Paul... Maybe we should go to Carlisle."

Paul scoffed, shook his head and looked at Jake. "Fuck that... I'm fine."

"If you're fine then get up."

Sam and Jake looked over their shoulders at Leah and clearly, they were 'not in the mood for her snippish, childish games right now' as she'd been told many times. Paul just rudely scoffed again.

"Screw off Leah."

"Hey you said you're fine; so if you are, get up. Stand up. On two legs."

"Leah-"

"Shut up Sam. Stand up, Paul. Come on."

Paul looked down at his leg, looked back up at her and glared. She could practically feel the undercurrent of the growl that he was sure to release soon and it made her want to smirk. No way in hell was he fine... Not with a cut that nasty-looking. And no way in hell would Paul let anyone work on it until he was knocked down a few notches, either.

"...Fuck off Leah, seriously. I know you wanna see my dick, but right now I'm not in the mood."

Leah rolled her eyes (Seth grimaced). Nudity was a foregone joke in the pack now and Leah hid herself well; it was Sam's goddamn dirty remembering mind that was the problem. He had a nasty habit of comparing his current fiance to his ex-girlfriend. So, the pack had seen enough of her and more. And well, she was _always _seeing plenty of them.

"I don't care about your cock Paul; it's not big enough right now to impress me anyways."

Jared just sorta whistled. Paul's growl made its appearance.

"You're a-"

"A bitch, I know... Now stand the fuck up and prove me wrong if you think you can. I know you can't."

Paul grit his teeth, used every muscle he had in those bodybuilder arms of his, and leveraed himself up and onto two legs. Jacob hissed and Embry put up arms in case Paul fell. Venom was a right git... It sucked. Mostly everyone had had at least a tiny brush with it... Hell this was bigger than most. But it packed quite a humiliating, feverish, tipsy, throbbing punch and of course, it was avoided at all costs.

Leah raised an eyebrow. She kept her eyes on his face where Paul brazenly kept his eyes on her's. Like Paul had been having with the vampire before, two members of the La Push wolfpack were locked in a staredown.

And at that moment, Leah was the enemy.

Sam didn't like the intense, challenging look his ex was giving his best friend. Nor did he like Paul's comment about Leah wanting to see his dick but Sam refused to take it back to highschool jealousy levels. Leah wasn't his business, anymore... Not outside of pack, anyway. Sometimes, in the heat of the moment... He had to struggle to remember that. But while one alpha's eyes were on the interlocking pridefulness of Paul and Leah, the rest of the pack's eyes fell to Paul's damaged leg.

They were watching what Leah assumed: The leg began to tremble, and Paul held it stiffly with most of his weight resting on the left. No doubt the venom's throb had settled in to claim the limb as its own by now, and the shapeshifter felt a nearly unignorable sting.

Leah waited, and waited. She was used to winning.

But finally, she cast her eyes down at the limb along with the others. "Paul... You're hurt. Come on, just go home. Alright? No Cullens... But you gotta go home."

Both of Paul's eyebrows shot right into his hairline. He felt the need to raise a hand and see if he'd lost his hearing too because that wasn't exactly the tone he was expecting out of Miss Bitch herself. Maybe the response was usually more akin to... _'Hah! I TOLD you you were hurt. Douchebag, now go get the leech to look you over. You're useless anyways; let alone with a smashed up leg.'_

So, instead of the cocky comeback he'd originally had planned Paul stammered out a "No Cullens...?"

"No Cullens... Just home. You need to be in bed."

"...Fine."

"Fine."

And so, Paul clumsily pulled on his cutoffs and began to limp in the direction of his house. The pack exchanged wonderous glances. Leah stood still and stared at Paul's retreating back for awhile... And then began to follow behind.

Sam liked that even less.

Jake looked around at his wolves and their bewildered expressions. He could tell the same question played on every mind in sight: Whether Leah was just going home herself, or whether she was going home with Paul. To Paul's house... _Paul, _bottom line. Those two weren't exactly the most akin duo. Would rather tear eachother to bits than laugh together, have a good time... God forbid, care about eachother. Paul was the only wolf who made Jacob really doubt the family-like love they all had for eachother, even if the boys and Leah gave eachother a hard time sometimes.

Leah and Embry traded blows constantly over his paternity even though the egging was one-sided on Leah's part. He still cared about her like a sister. And when they'd had their own separate pack, Jacob had watched Leah care for Embry as well. The two had needed time to warm up; but that was expected. The bond came slowly and soon Embry respected Leah as his beta, and as his friend.

Leah frequently gave Quil shit over his imprint on Claire. A touchy subject for Jacob included. Their imprints were children. Claire and Renesmee were young; and put in Leah's words, "Being groomed to be nothing more than their friggen housewives." But they loved them; and if Claire and Renesmee wanted them when they got older, so be it. An imprint was an imprint. Sacred. Quil returned the hits he took, but there was never a harsh battle of words or big argument between them. One or the other always let it slide.

The great debate of imprinting and its values was a common thing for Jared and the shewolf as well. Having Kim as his imprint had turned Jared possessive and protective, just the same as Sam and usually, Paul. And Kim and Leah's blatant disregard and hatred of eachother had the poor boy in a constant struggle to maintain the peace. Jared and Leah went way back; just like Sam and his ex had. They were old friends. But, clearly things changed and Jared wanted to move ahead in life. He still cared for Leah... Somewhat.

Collin and Brady had been the last two to phase. They were still young... Jake and Sam kept them home as much as they could. The duo probably got one patrol a week, if that; and since they'd become as tight as twins, the alphas tried to keep them together. Friends were valuable in this life... As it had been proven. Leah always supported that, and she was a good spokesperson for them. She'd even ran that once-a-week patrol for them once or twice, if they had a math test... Or a date. She was like their aunt, or big sister. Someone they could talk to and always in their corner. So they were mute to the ignorance the pack sometimes gave Leah and deaf to her cruel responses in return.

Sam was... Sam was probably the most difficult to describe, in terms for how each member truly felt about the shewolf in their ranks. Fuck... At the same time, Sam was the easiest.

It was there in the way his eyes lingered... It was there when he tried his damn hardest to not slip up and call her LeeLee. But he always did anyway. And she bitched, and complained. And then, from what Jake had seen flash in her mind one day... She let out the tears when she got home over the simple nickname. He didn't really think Sam knew the damage he'd caused... Was still causing.

But Jacob didn't think his former beta knew the heartache she still created in her ex-fiance, either.

Sam still cared about her, so, so much. More secret thoughts unveiled to only the alpha, Jacob had seen the darker, dimmer side of Sam's mind also. The side that desperately still wished for 'his LeeLee.' The part of Sam that would do anything to have her... Even if it meant cheating on his one and only. But then the imprint strings would yank tight again... And with a wince, the memories of Leah in Sam's mind were once again but a still, long-forgotten whisper.

So even in the midst of parent mysteries, imprint disasters and ex-boyfriends, Leah had managed to survive and the pack had managed to get used to her in a way that included their sole female member as a bonafide member of the family.

Everyone, except Paul.

The fights, the bickering, the agitation... It was never-ending in reference to Leah and Paul's behavior. If she objected to something, he had to agree; if he thought one strategy was effective, she would cast her vote for another. Sometimes Jacob wondered about the structural formation of the pack's integrity when those two got on like that. It was like a constant question whether Leah and Paul actually stood up for their opinions or whether they just wanted to stand out, against eachother.

And a pack, of all situations, that defended their families and tribe was _no _place for that childish bullshit.

As Jacob had told them many times.

Some day they were going to do something foolish for simple spite at eachother; and one of them was going to get hurt a lot worse than some damn nip on the leg. Even worse yet; someone _else_ could get hurt.

And no matter how hard Leah and Paul rode the game of life, Jake knew neither of his wolves would be able to stand the guilt if their silly hatred of eachother caused the loss of innocent life.

Jacob stood in the clearing, and watched the purple pire fester out until he could kick some dirt atop it and extinguish the flames.

Sam stood in the clearing a little longer... Just until he could no longer hear Leah's disappearing footfalls.

"I don't even know why you're here; I _don't_ need anything Leah!"

"You're not goddamn Superman Paul, you need to get the hell into bed and eat something before the venom makes you stomach-sick."

Paul glared at her where he stood in his kitchen, half on a limp with all his weight resting on his left limb. It was bearable... But the ache was beginning to set in. It felt as though the fluid rushing through his veins was slightly too hot; not too cold, as one would think. Like his blood had began to boil and someone threw some salt in there just to watch the mixture bubble. Having venom put in your system was like injecting a vaught of pure acid into your leg. It felt as though it was eating away at your very flesh, kinking up the muscles and then fixing them over and over. No bite could turn a shifter... But it could damn well kill them. So if a nip was of a decent calibre usually Carlisle would be notified and that injured packmate was shipped to the Cullen's to spend a night in the sick-role. Or maybe two nights... Or five.

It really depended on the seriousness of the bite.

And as Paul thought about it, his bite really wasn't that serious.

It wasn't like the vamp had damn near gnawed off his limb (speaking of, the question of limb regeneration was still a big one. Just, no one wanted to be the one to test it out). He could hold the leg fine; he could wriggle his toes, bend his knee.

It just didn't... Feel too great, that was all.

He looked at Leah again where she stood against the doorjamb of his kitchen, arms crossed and blue eyes pointed at him like she honestly didn't have a clue how he could defend his case.

"What the hell does it look like I'm tryin' to do?" Leah looked down at his hands; watched them nearly drop the spoon where he held sugar over his cup of coffee.

"Looks like you're about to make a mess if you ask me." As if her words had been the catalyst, Paul's hand suffered an involuntary venom twitch and he dropped the spoon; the thousand grains of sugar bouncing over the countertop and onto the wooden floor.

"Fuck!"

"That's it; into bed, _now._" Leah marched over and grabbed his elbow. She could feel his muscle bulge beneath her fingertips as Paul held his arm steady, tried to stay standing where he was. But, with another effective tug, Paul teetered on his weak leg and cursed again with no choice but to follow his female packsister into the bedroom.

Once there, Leah all but shoved him down onto his blankets.

"What the fuck'yah doin'!" Paul growled at her as he caught his balance; hindered the injured leg up off the floor with a straightening out of the ligaments in his knee.

"I told you; you were getting into bed." Then Leah walked right over to his bureau. Opening drawer after drawer, she searched for the object of her she plucked a fresh, pinstriped-pattern pair of Paul's boxer shorts out of the wooden furniture and slammed it shut. Then she walked right back over to his bed and got to her knees. As Paul's eyebrows dove into his hairline, Leah's hands went right to his zipper and button and undid the two.

"What the fuck Leah?" As her intentions dawned on Paul he slapped her hands away with a growl. It wasn't exactly like Leah to just walk up to him and start stripping off his clothes. But then again, it wasn't like Leah to actually give two shits about him either.

Leah gave his jeans a hard pluck; pulling the denim halfway down his legs.

"You're changing for bed. Plus, I need to clean the bite. So sit down, shut up and let me help Paul. You think you're so fucking tough... Newsflash; you're really not."

Paul blubbed like a fish out of water. His brown eyes were staring sort of listlessly at her as she brazenly pulled his jeans off the rest of the way (he refused himself the flinch that came with the fabric pulling tight over the bite wound) and threw the cutoffs to the other side of the room. Christ, women... No wonder men couldn't figure them out.

He was almost stroking by the time she got around to pulling off his boxers... And well, a woman pulling off your clothes (almost _any _kind of woman) brought a special... Reaction, to a guy's body. All guys; even headstrong dudes like Paul. Goosebumps raised on his warm flesh not from the cold as he saw her eyes perch on him; then raise slowly back up to his own. Hell... At least he looked _good._

"...Um... You're hard."

"And you're a chick."

"...So?"

"You're here pullin' the goddamn underwear right off me and all you got to say is 'so'? Jesus, you ain't too bright Clearwater."

Much to Paul's satisfaction, Leah looked slightly taken aback. But, probably not for the reasons Mr. Lahote had been thinking.

It wasn't as though Leah had never seen any of the guys naked before; hell, ironically (and taking into consideration how stuck up she knew Emily, Rachel and Kim really were) Leah had probably seen their cocks more than their imprints had.

And that was sad.

But damn... It was a nice sight. Sometimes Leah wondered how she could... How she could ever find something sexy about a mortal man again. An ordinary man... Someone without the eight-pack, the intense eyes, the bulging muscles and the most fantastic attribute becoming super-sized gave a guy; the simple fact that usually _everything_ became super-sized.

Including their naughty bits.

With the pack's mental connection (and all the embarassing, too-much-information bullshit that came with it), Leah had seen some memories and views through the pack's eyes that she was quite impressed with... Not that she wanted them to know that. Leah was proud of her capability to cover up some of her thoughts, to say the least. She had seen Jacob's longing memories for a girlfriend his own age... Someone who he could be an _adult_ with. And then almost felt the spring of the imprint yank him back into focusing on Renesmee. She had seen Jared's fleeting annoyance with being treated like a borderline slave in Kimberly's house. 'Do this, do that.' But Jared always did whatever she asked. The twins, well... They were un-imprinted and had some pretty single-track minds.

In fact, she was thought about more often than not; in a very naked, gorgeous light that made everyone else laugh, Sam growl and Brady and Collin practically put their tails between their legs.

Embry was a little harder to read. She had caught him once or twice, she thought anyways, maybe trying to sneak a glance at her as she changed to phase. But maybe she was just overthinking. Quil loved Claire so much that he had pretty much become a toddler himself; so Leah really didn't find it shocking that anything even remotely similar to pornography was kept the hell out of his mind.

Paul was... Different. He thought about Rachel, a lot. But... It was always in a sexual light. It was never in a tender light... It was the exact reverse of Sam, actually. Sam only thought of Emily as the light to his dark; about stroking her scars, coming home to her grin. Never lustful. It was as though Paul's imprint saw Rachel as... Well, a means to lay; and that was it.

Leah found it laughable.

But now, upon seeing the fine manhood Paul was working with ready to go... Maybe Rachel was luckier than she'd initially wanted to believe.

He was large. A little thinner than Sam; maybe a little longer in comparison. And god it was staring her right in the face.

Leah gulped when she realized how long she had been silent for.

"Uh... Jesus Paul, do you ever shut up...?"

"No."

Leah shook her head and focused on the bite adorning his right calf. Anything to get her eyes off his dick.

The limb was ravaged red... The bite still festered and she wrinkled her nose a bit as she leant closer to the chomp marks to see better. The faint smell of venom was lingering along the jagged edges of the cut.

"I'm gonna get some warm water. Hang on."

"No Leah, you don't have to. Look I'm just gonna sleep alright? It'll be fine." He noticed that while his voice still held annoyance, Paul couldn't pinpoint outright anger like there had been when she followed him home. Maybe she was worried; but still. He didn't need to be babied.

"Paul it'll get infected, there's dirt and grass all over that damn thing... Just let me clean it and then you can sleep." As if to end the discussion, she rose off her bent knees and went to the bathroom to fetch a warm cloth.

He watched her go... Wondered what was going through her head about his naked body.

When Leah returned with the small bowl of warm water in hand, she set it on the nighttable and knelt once more between Paul's bent legs. It was glaringly obvious that he'd neglected to put on shorts probably for no better reason than to antagonize her. But it was sort of having the opposite effect on Leah. She stared at him again for a moment, pondering once more just how magnificent of a specimen he really was but then it occured to her that...

That this magnificent specimen belonged to Rachel Black.

Leah soaked the rag, wrung it out and then pressed it to the wound. Paul jerked and cursed at her.

"Fuck!"

"Oh come on... It's not that bad."

"Yeah let's cut you open a few inches and pour boiling water on you; see how _you _like it!" Leah rolled her eyes.

"Paul it's not even that hot!" As Paul neglected the chance to argue back and Leah felt the heavier man sink back down into the mattress, she returned her eyes to the bite. It did look painful... Then Leah turned her eyes to the clock. Nearly dusk, around 7 PM.

Leah bit her lip and wondered what kind of response her next question would elicit from Paul. She had a few guesses. He'd either a) Kick her in the face. b) Tell her to go fuck herself. c) Ask her why she gives a shit. Or, d) Talk to her like a civilized human being. Needless to say, her odds weren't looking very promises.

But what odds _did _look good for her nowadays?

"It's starting to get late... Where's Rachel?"

Paul looked down at her and Leah refused to tremor. She waited for it.

"I dunno... Out I guess. She goes out a lot, I don't know where the hell she goes."

_That _took Leah by surprise. Emily kept Sam on such a strict leash that he had might as well wear a bell to let her know when he was on the way home.

"Oh... Geeze, does she know you got hurt today...?"

"Yeah, I'd say Emily called her. Rachel trusts me to know when I'm _okay_ and when I'm not." His eyes burnt into Leah but now she looked away from his leg and stared back up at him.

"...I would be worried... I'd be home."

...She would be, wouldn't she? Paul raised an eyebrow, but, he didn't question it. Leah was here... Rachel wasn't and for the first time in a long time (outside of the days Rachel took him shopping and made Paul carry all her fucking bags), he found himself disappointed.

Disappointed, in Rachel. In his imprint.

But he couldn't let Leah Clearwater know that.

"It's none of your fuckin' business anyways."

Leah's eyes hardened; in fact, so did the cloth pressed to his bite and Paul cursed louder this time and he kicked out a little bit. Knocked Leah off of her knees and onto her butt on the floor. She glared up at him.

"You asshole!" And with that, well... She went for the proudest part of Paul; also the weakest. Leah grabbed his dick and squeezed.

"OW! FUCKIN' LET GO BITCH!"

Leah just sort of tightened her grip on him. The words poured out of her mouth after that.

"You listen to me Paul Lahote. I'll fucking talk about Rachel goddamn Black all I fucking want and there's not a goddamn thing you can do to stop me; know why? I'll tell you; because I practically _made_ her into a friggen presentable woman by telling her how to curl her goddamn hair right, how to look sexy in a pair of high heels, and, probably most beneficial to _you, _I taught her how to SUCK A FUCKING DICK!"

Leah leaned in close, then. Paul was a little wide-eyed.

"...And she can't even _compare_ to me."

When Leah let him go and stood up, Paul was still. Very, very still.

And then it hit.

His arms wrapped around her waist and threw her down to the bed so fast her head spun. And as if that wasn't surprising enough... Leah's jean shorts got thrown to the floor in two pieces; victims of Paul's fast hands.

Her underwear followed... And then Leah felt Paul cup her sex.

"You think you can fuckin' TOUCH ME without my goddamn PERMISSION, Leah? And then act like I fuckin' can't do shit about it?"

Paul laughed. "Clearly you don't fuckin' know me."

As one finger roughly drove into her heat and Leah gasped... She knew things were about to take a turn in a direction neither one of them had anticipated.

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><p><strong>MS: <strong>What a place to leave it, huh...? I know hahaha. But oh well; that'll just keep you eagerly awaiting the update in a few weeks. :) I hope you enjoyed guys; PLEASE REVIEW and give me your thoughts on the events of next chapter. Hope you enjoyed it Maggs. :) ps; GO CHECK OUT STEALTHLIBERAL'S FIC, "Shrapnel." It'll blow your mind just like it blows imprinting. ;)


	2. Chapter 2

**MS: **_HELLO EVERYONE! _God, it's been awhile... Has it not? I'm just going to start off by giving you all a heartfelt apology for being so damn slack with everything. Well slack ain't even the word... More like invisible. Nursing school proved to be more of a challenge than I originally thought andddd somewhere over the course of all that, I guess I lost some inspiration. However, I'm back; back to stay. I just saw BD2 in theatres and my love for the wolfpack has been restored (regardless of the movie's BLATANT DISREGARD for wolfpack human scenes). So, without further ado... I bring you the new chapter of Irreconcilable Differences. Dedicated to the always wonderful supportive friend of mine, StealthLiberal. She's deadly guys; go check out her fic Shrapnel. And read the endnotes at the bottom of the chapter please!

ENJOY.

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><p>Paul watched her neck crane backward, the look on her face practically made his cock twitch in a way that he surprisingly liked.<p>

"What the hell are you doing?!" She tried to smack his hand away from her nether regions but Paul was quick; grabbed her wrist, held it tight with the one hand he had free.

"Makin' it even."

Leah was staring up at him with eyes wide enough to resemble the spread of her legs right now and again, Paul Jr. twitched at the sight. She was hot, tight around Paul's finger and for a moment Paul had to wonder just how in the hell he and Leah managed to get there, be here in this situation.

His thoughts were interrupted however when Leah lifted a foot and jabbed her sole right into his wounded leg.

Searing pain shot up Paul's right limb and he damn near howled his disapproval at the action she took to get his finger out of her. Both of Paul's hands dove to his injured calf and Leah took the opportunity to turn onto her stomach, grasp the headboard and make to crawl out of his reach. However... Paul was not having it; not after that stunt.

The beta of Sam's pack snarled and with one hand still on his leg to brace himself, the other found its way to Leah's ankle and he hauled the girl back down the mattress; her fingernails almost splintering the worn redwood of his headboard.

"Don't even fucking think about it!"

Leah couldn't help the unwerewolf-like gasp she let out as the entireity of her form was pulled back down the mattress. "Paul fuck off-"

"No. You think you can insult me, get me hard and then just fuckin' ditch out?"

Leah stilled, looked over her shoulder at him.

"What...? What are you...?" Leah couldn't even bring herself to finish that sentence. Her skin was ridden with goosebumps; her bare ass and what lay between her thighs was staring Pail right in the face and fuck if he hadn't meant what he said... Paul's cock was harder, and looked a whole lot more intimidating then when she'd been hauling his jeans off.

She hadn't thought that was possible.

"I'm sayin' that god only fuckin' knows when Rachel's gonna get home so we might not have that much time to get things straight between the two of us." Leah opened her mouth to reply as she watched Paul let go of her ankle, raise his hand and then bring it down firmly on the right cheek of her ass. She let out an immediate hiss but her eyes still hadn't really lost any of that 'holy-fucking-christ' wonder and if anything, they got bigger when Paul shakily knelt over her.

"You can't be serious..."

"Why not." (Why _YES_?!)

"Because... Because you can't friggen stand me!" Leah nearly bit off her own tongue when she felt Paul roughly shove her legs apart and line himself up. Everything was happening too fast, too bluntly and hell... Was she ready for this...?

"You don't seem too keen on me either Clearwater."

"So why.. Are we doing this...?"

...The stalled, suddenly undefensive tone of Leah's voice made Paul pause above her. Why _were_ they doing this...? Paul had an imprint. Rachel, his future, his _life_ could walk in at any minute and see him, over naked friggen' Leah Clearwater of all people and leave his ass.

And Rachel was all he'd ever had, wasn't she.

Now Paul was an altogether uncomplicated guy. He yearned for the basics in life: food, shelter, humor, sex... But he wasn't typically fond of emotions. He told Rachel he loved her when she told him; he just didn't feel the need to tell her everyday because... He just didn't.

Period.

It wasn't no big deal. He was sure he cared about her... He was imprinted; of course he cared. He didn't care about Leah. This was just... A fuck.

A one-time thing that could give both of them a chance to have it out with eachother. An excuse to keep moving, to keep the venom from sitting in his veins and locking his joints. A way to show Leah she wasn't all that, a way to keep his leg from paining too much, a need to fuck somebody who seemed like she actually cared for once-

"Paul?"

He looked down at her. He was holding himself in his hand, when had that happened...?

"What?"

"I asked you, why are we doing this..."

Paul tilted his head. No friggen way he was getting dragged into this pit.

"...Because Rachel isn't here and I wanna fuck."

He was almost brutally fast in how he shoved himself inside her, buried all inches deep within Leah in one thrust and the way she cried out, the way she gripped him... It made Paul shiver down to his toes.

Leah's cry faded quickly and she hissed again, the sharp burn fading from Paul's entrance as though it were a needle prick that just needed to be over and done with. She let out a haggard breath as Paul's weight settled in on her, as his injured limb quivered against her own right calf. He was... Inside her. Paul Lahote, hothead extraordinaire with a degree in making her feel like shit,... Was screwing her right now.

Was the world ending?

The earlier events of the day flew past Leah's mind like the fluttering wings of a hummingbird and she remembered everything... Tried to pinpoint that moment when this, what was happening, could've been foretold or foreseen. And she was coming up blank. The vampires, yes, she could almost still feel the crystalline crunch of dead flesh in her teeth and the overripe stench of sugar and bleach. For a moment the dead eyes of that young vampire even flickered in hindsight. Then it was coming home; watching Paul strain on two legs, watching the grains of sugar tumble to the floor and spread out like snowflakes across the mahogany. The bedroom; yanking off his pants, getting so... Close to him-

Paul drew himself almost all the way out of her, then slammed back in and it really was all Leah could do not to groan. It had been nearly two years... Two years, since she'd had someone inside her, felt the tender stretch of her walls. The last one had been Sam.

...Sam. Now, _there's_ an idea.

Leah grit her teeth and peered over her shoulder again as Paul sucked in a hot breath, pushed his hips forcefully into her for the third time. "I can't wait.. Until Sam sees this."

Paul froze and a slow, deadly-sounding growl escaped his lips. Like he wanted to be reminded of the fact that he was now balls deep in his best friend's ex; way to keep the mood going. "Shut the hell up Leah.."

"Fine; go harder."

Paul's growl stopped and his eyebrows shot straight into his hair line.

"Harder?"

Leah couldn't help rolling her eyes. She'd discovered a reason to do it, do Paul and to friggen enjoy it and now it was the beta's turn to act slow stiff and dumb? No way in hell. The shewolf cursed under her breath and rotated her hips in a way that just-_Damn..._ Settled Paul inside and made both he and Leah shudder.

"Yes... You wanted to fuck me, so fuck me."

Fingers dug into the grooves between her ribs and Paul slung his body low over Leah's own, again the length of him rearranging itself and pushing deeper, sitting stronger within. The way he covered her suddenly made her feel small; Paul's breath pushed her raven hair at her ear.

"Love to."

Leah felt so good around him it was like fluid; like a body cutting through water and forcing the tide to part and move like magic. His hips began to piston and judging by the resistance, then the increasingly easier slide of his cock into her folds he had the sneaking suspicion that maybe Leah was a little more turned on by this then she wanted to admit to herself. A fuck; it was what they both needed. She could mention Sam all she wanted, truth be told, to her miserable heart's content but at the end of the day he was still with Emily. Her ex had still left her.

(Left her to be Paul's bitch for the night.)

So it wasn't like the only reason Leah was down for this was because she wanted to make Sam jealous.

Leah cried out again and it was a different sound... Higher, more girlish than Paul thought she'd really be capable of. It made him flex his hips harder, harder, pushing at her cervix like a man on a mission. Her spine curved and arched underneath his chest and Paul growled; slung his hand down past her ribs and under her torso to try and grab a handful of Leah's modest C-cup tits. He cursed again when the handful of boob ended up more a handful of tank top and bedspread.

Leah felt Paul probing for her breast and she pushed both palms into the mattress; ass into Paul's groin, chest rising just so so Paul could take her in hand but apparently the guy just didn't have any time for that.

"Fucking chick clothes," Paul gripped her tank top at the back of her neck with both hands and ripped the material right down the middle of her spine; the shreds he yanked out from under her moments later against Leah's sharp intake of breath. "Always in the goddamn way..."

"Jesus Paul, I needed that..!"

"Get a new one!" He poignated his words by a sharp bite delivered between her shoulderblades. Leah squeaked out at the pinching sensation... And a rush of arousal coated Paul's length. She could feel it... The animal inside, the barbaric part of her that lived for rank and pack.

Paul could feel it too, and he pressed a grin into the skin of her back.

"That's her in there isn't it... Your wolf. What, she like it when I do this?"

He accented a particularly hard thrust with another nip, this time his teeth closing near fare over the back of Leah's neck. She bucked underneath him and Paul felt her walls squeeze at him in such a way that made his mind just sort of go... 'Rachel _Whoooo?' _It was a pretty obvious fact, now even to the Cullens, Billy, Quil Senior and Leah and Paul's own parents that their kids were a lot less human and a lot more.. Savage then they used to be.

Not flesh-eating, impale-people-on-pikes savages.

Growling, snarling, hungry-like-the-wolf, savages.

And, with being part savage comes... New tastes. New attitudes. In the wild, wolves communicate by biting, licking, play-fighting... And male wolves show claim on a female by biting the scruff of her neck during 'mating'.

(Thank you Quil and the Discovery Channel.)

Leah snarled an evil little sound as Paul tried to poke the animal inside with a sharp stick. She hoped it worked; she hoped her shewolf came roaring to life and bit a goddamn chunk out of Paul bigger than that bloodsucker had. And she hoped he liked the taste of her skin, too.

He did.

Paul bet dollars to donuts that Leah's shewolf was soaking up the dominance inside the human girl as fast as Paul could dish it out; maybe craving more.

"Jesus Paul.. Jus'..." Leah couldn't help the volume of the sounds that fell from her lips or the way she only just now noticed that she and Paul were moving so hard the bed was moving right along with them. In fact, if she still had her hands perched on the headboard it would be squatting her fingers against the wall right now. "Just go harder... _Fuck, _deeper..!"

Harder. Deeper. Two words almost every man on the known planet earth could understand.

Paul snarled like he had done in battle and the ferocity with which his hips rode Leah's ass seemed loud, hard enough to be painful and the hand on her breast squeezed her left nipple tightly just to hear her gasp. This felt too good, too good...

Leah was close. She could feel it... An almost... Foreign, sensation after so much time past that caused heat to stir in her lower belly; a faucet, a vaught of sensation that trickled its way upwards throughout her muscles and skeleton like a living, breathing creature climbing bone and sinew. Jesus, this was _amazing_.. In fact, Leah couldn't really say she'd had sex before that was as.. As... Down, dirty and _right._

Not with anybody. Not with Sam.

But she wasn't going to tell Paul that, especially as she felt his rhythm take on an erratic turn; thrusts becoming raw pushes into her body like Paul wanted to crawl inside her and never leave.

"Fuck!" Paul's curse left him with an explosive breath, his fingers so tight on Leah's breast and the other now clenched on her shoulder that bruises would be left in his wake and god_damn_it if he wouldn't like to look at those after he was done. An electrical current had begun to sizzle and spiral as it made its way up his cock, leaving his balls tight with the need to release.

There's often a hitch, a certain tone that strikes a guy's voice when he's about to blow and Leah caught on loud and clear. Looking over her shoulder, her gaze was now effectively blocked by the dark curtain of her hair and she was not going to miss out on what was probably her only chance to see Paul Lahote cum long, hard and loud.

Paul rumbled in his chest, quivered inside her. Just.. A little more-

Leah reached backward as quick as the muscle and shoved Paul backward; he fell to the side with a curse, awkwardly on his injured limb and he sucked in a moan of agony. His leg.. Jesus, he hadn't even been feeling it for the past ten minutes but even more important then that... Just _what the hell_ did Leah think she was doing?

"What the fuck!" His dick suddenly felt too damn angry and cold at being exiled from PleasureLand and Leah had some explaining to do. The female turned onto her back and then sat up.

"I wanna see your face." She grabbed Paul's shoulder, dug her fingers in deep enough that it felt like a meathook had caught the tender flesh then pulled him down towards the mattress in her place.

"You what?!"

"I wanna see your face when you cum. Because of me; I wanna see your face." Once she had Paul flat on his back he watched with a slightly bewildered expression as she climbed atop his hips... Mindful of his leg... And sank herself back down on him hard, fast, and wet.

His eyes damn near rolled into the back of his fucking brain.

"Ohhh Leah..." A smirk curled her full lips upward as Paul said her name, the syllables rolling off his tongue like liquid honey and oh so sweet, just as sweet. Just as gratifying. Leah began to ride Paul where he laid, two coarse hands soon worming their way to the sharp jut of her hip bones to hold her there. It was fast, it was wild... It was everything the wolves needed.

Fuck or fight. It seemed so fitting, such would be the relationship she and Paul shared.

She was rubbing herself now over Paul in such a way that his pubic bone was a smooth, firm slide against Leah's clit on every upward motion of her hips and the friction was perfect. Paul stared up at her with dark eyes that had only grown blacker as the minutes passed, as he felt himself twitch at suddenly not having the starring role. "You think you're so.. Friggen hot up there..." Leah sneered down at him, a feminine, wolfish sound leaving her chest.

"I know I am..." And she did... She felt like it. For the first time in over a year, she felt pretty. She felt desired. And she had made _every_ attempt at that before now. First there was Jacob... He imprinted on the spawn. And then she lost weight; stopped dressing so boyish and dressed up and dressed skimpier. Fail. Lastly, she regrew her hair despite Sam and Jacob's complaints.

Nothing worked.

But this, here, now... Looking down at Paul, and knowing she was the one responsible for taking his pain away _and _fucking over imprinting in one go was like a gift from fate. A positive thing, the first positive thing that had happened to her in months.

...Suddenly, as Leah's eyes squeezed shut and she threw her head back to scream her release... She wondered how she was going to crash-land when this was over and she and Paul went their separate ways.

Paul grit his teeth so hard he wore off enamel and he never even felt the way Leah's fingernails raked down his chest and raised red welts. He felt himself all but jerk inside her hot heat before his orgasm seemed to rocket out of him like a real, corporeal force. As he shot his load into Leah's lower belly his leg declined to even sting... And he declined to shove her off of him.

In fact, he pulled her down tighter.

Oh, the tangled webs we weave.

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><p><strong>MS: <strong>Soooo any love out there for Leah and Paul? ;) I hope so and I hope you guys enjoyed this. Especially you StealthLiberal; hope it lives to your expectations! Now, I do want to point out to you guys that NONE of my fics are abandoned. ATS will be continued; I promise. I'm determined now to make writing work, regardless of my workload and let me assure you, for next semester starting on January 5th I DO have a workload.

But, nevertheless... I've figured out a way for you quickmovers and jumpers to keep in touch with me. I restarted my Twitter account. :) You can find me at AshleyFLORENCE. Follow me and I'll follow you in return! It's an excellent way for me to keep in touch with everyone through twitter I'll be posting bulletins, fic update news, new fic ideas and maybe even some blurbs and fic outtakes. So follow me y'all!

And from the bottom of my heart, thank you.


	3. Chapter 3

**MS: **The support for the last chapter of this was just epic, guys. Thanks sooooo much! You guys were part of the reason I wanted to rush this chapter. :) But I do have a few things to say in regards to other readers:

**1.** I don't mean to offend anyone with my writing, I never have; I've always been drawn to darker aspects of life. If you've read something of mine and you disagree with a point, please don't personally message me and complain or post a review that you didn't like the content. That's what summaries are for; and this one was rated M right at the start AND had a suggestive summary. So there was adequate warning. If you don't like cheating/rape/murder/incest/or any other taboo thing, that's your choice; just please don't read my work and then complain when you should've known better. Fanfiction. net is a site geared toward artistic impressions and portrayals of a personal choice, and people are fully capable of editing their rating choices and looking for fics that suit their specific ideals. I suggest certain people utilize the effort.

2. If you're going to give someone constructive criticism, mind your own grammar while doing so and try to be polite about it. Give decent examples of what content was wrong in a structured form.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Twilight or any of its affiliates nor do I lay claim to any music or lyrics posted. (I should really start putting these things in every chapter)

And that is all ;) Now have at the third chapter and I hope you all enjoy it as much as the last two! :)

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><p>"Fuck..."<p>

"...Yeah..."

"No, really... _Fuck..."_

"...Yeah."

Leah had to get her wits back in order. She sucked in a breath and rolled off of Paul's hips, tempted to make a face at the vacant feeling she suddenly sprouted between her thighs. Some of what he'd left behind was still gleaming there, a white sparkle against her copper flesh. Paul looked down at himself, limp, resting against his belly now and coated in both he and Leah's former engagement.

What the _hell _had they done?

As Leah sank down into the mattress beside him she released that breath, heavy and exhausted into the bedroom air that undoubtedly stank of them now.

"...I should go eh, before she... Gets home."

"Yeah... Prob'ly should."

She stared up at the white ceiling and found herself wondering if, if she hadn't been the one to mention Rachel... If Paul would've still made her leave. Not that that one little expletive should have been at the top of her priorities list at the moment, because really; she was naked in Paul Lahote's bed, full of... Him, Rachel was probably minutes away from the house and the pack knew they'd gone off together because of Paul's leg-

Paul's leg.

Leah sat up and Paul watched her, assuming she was ready to leave. But instead she leant forward, breasts swaying with the moment and she gently pushed the balled sheets of Paul's bed away from his right calf and ankle.

"How does it feel...?"

Paul tried not to let the surprise show on his face. After today the world was probably already ending; the four horsemen were riding into La Push and Paul didn't wanna tempt fate and make that unknowingly worse. "Uh... Not too bad, actually."

He flexed his toes and only a demure sting echoed his movement. He could feel her eyes roaming over the bite, but honestly he was having a hard enough time keeping his eyes on her face and not on her tits or the dip of her spine. "How's it look?"

Leah tilted her head. The crescent-shaped bite mark was still a little grey around the edges; as if someone had sprinkled talc along the very lines of the teethmarks but the pack knew better. It was indeed the venom that reacted so uniquely to them, and their physique that it turned the surrounding skin almost white. But it had stopped bleeding... Maybe there were a few blots of dried blood here and there but even then Leah could tell that Paul's healing nature had already taken care of the worst of it. It looked like the bite itself was more shallow; the inside, untouched by the grey exterior almost pink in its new tissue and flesh regrowth.

"It looks good, actually... If it doesn't hurt too bad, and you don't have a fever you could probably get around on that no trouble."

"Well... Good."

"Yeah."

They both indulged in a few moments of silence. Awkward, seemingly unending, nervous silence.

In fact, it was so uncomfortable to both of them that Leah and Paul opened their mouths to talk at the same time.

"So are you-"  
>"Gonna go now... Just, lemme find my shit..."<p>

Leah left the bedside, threw her share of the sheets back over Paul's hips as if she cared for his modesty but actually, she just didn't want to keep staring at what they'd just done and be forced to face that she wouldn't ever do it again. Because it felt good... _Too_ good, for an imprinted man.

She was a little put-out to find her shorts, her panties, her tank top... All in two pieces.

"...My bad, I guess."

She looked over her shoulder at him. "I need-"

"Take somethin' of Rachel's... If she asks, I can say that you phased and ripped everything. Needed something to go home in."

Leah pursed her lips and the words sort of came out before she could really put that trusty mental filter on.

"I wouldn't really be caught dead in any of Rachel's flowery frilly pink crap..."

As soon as the words were out Leah winced. _Sure Leah, fuck the woman's boyfriend then just shit alllll over her wardrobe; atta girl. Stay classy._

"Take somethin' of mine then."

It was Leah's turn now to try and keep the look of shock off her face as she looked around the bedroom Rachel and Paul shared. She walked almost... Crookedly, over to the dresser and opened the top drawer. Panties, boxers and socks; nope.

The second drawer: Rachel's orange, pink and yellow mass of blouses and florals. Definitely not.

The third drawer down is where Leah found what she was looking for. The first shirt on the top was the one she chose; a black Metal Mulisha skull-print shirt. She turned to face Paul again, shirt nervously held between her hands. It was one of his favorites, the brand was expensive and the pack did _not _hang onto expensive clothing for long. "Do you care if I take this one...?"

"Go for it, don't matter to me."

She nodded her head nervously and licked her lips before Leah lifted the shirt above her head, arms stretching upward and giving Paul his last glance of her perky, still hardened nipples before the blackness of the fabric slid down over her torso and covered Leah from shoulders to-... To knees.

"Jesus Paul... Big."

"Yeah well, I'm a big guy."

Leah tried not to smirk; she really did but fuck if the sexual innuendo didn't creep into her grin anyways. Yeah, Paul _was _a big guy; very big.

Paul crossed his arms behind his head. As he watched Leah prepare to leave the thought of doing anything else for that day seemed anathema in its idea. His cock was feeling cold where it rested limp against his belly and Paul didn't want to believe that he already missed the heat of Leah's pussy that much, but, he did. He spared a glance down to the ruffled sheets beside him; missed her there, too.

Not that he would ever admit it to her... Much less to himself as more than a passing thought.

Christ... She almost looked cute standing there in his shirt.

Leah ran a hand through her tangled, sweat-damp hair and blinked blue eyes at him. There was so much to say between them now, so much to try and cover up... Paul wondered if she wanted to avoid that awkward, rushed 'This never happened' as much as he did.

"...I guess we'll-

The front door opened, and closed.

Paul and Leah froze.

"That's Rachel! Get out the fuckin' window!" Paul whispered at her, trying to make the words seem as direly serious as this situation was going to be if Rachel walked into her bedroom and found Leah Clearwater's torn up clothes and the smell of sex, Paul naked in bed.

Leah cursed and she damn near ran to Paul's windowsill, gave a heave of that supreme strength being a shapeshifter happened to give you and lifted the glass above her head. Between her thighs stung, and well she felt... Squishy, but there wasn't really time to process that information.

That was the type of stuff Leah would remember late at night, when she was alone.

She glanced over her shoulder as Paul leant over the side and swept all of Leah's torn clothing under the bed. He looked up, caught her gaze and together they just held it for a moment.

Then Leah was gone.

The rest of that night hadn't passed easily for either combatant.

Paul had Rachel explain where she was, why she wasn't home when he needed her to be. Later when Rach was asleep beside him where Leah had earlier lain (Rachel unsuspecting), Paul decided that he was just trying to blame Rachel for what he'd done. His imprint had been at Emily's house, the girls were having their weekly day of bake-gossip-cook. Paul hadn't been sure why he had forgotten that... But then again, he never really took anything in that Rachel said; not unless it was really important.

He found it a little strange, however, that she hadn't called him when she'd heard about the bite. And god knew she'd heard; Sam had gone home after patrol, hadn't he? He would've told Emily, or told Emily, Kim _and _Rachel about the vampire that bit him.

Oh well.

All in all Paul was awake for hours, wondering just what the hell he'd been thinking... And what the fuck Leah had been thinking at the same time. Leah Clearwater was the girl that made Paul doubt the whole 'no violence against women' route of society. Sometimes, fuck she could really drive him. Sometimes he thought she tried it- ...He _knew _she tried it. And to think; just hours earlier, he'd been inside her and loving every fucking second of it. Loving it like he hadn't loved being inside Rachel in weeks.

In months.

Yeah, lying there in the dead of night and feeling the occasional twinge of an ache from his leg, Paul knew that he just wanted somebody to blame, or somebody to be mad at as his excuse for fucking Leah.

Or maybe he just wanted a reason to feel guilty like an imprinted man should.

Leah returned home after Paul's. She phased once she'd hit the treeline, knowing that the rest of the pack would be home by now and not in the packmind to see what they'd done through her eyes. She was extra careful with Paul's shirt too; tied it tightly, perfectly around her ankle with one of the shoelaces the pack kept stashed around La Push in various places.

When she got home she slipped it back on and scaled the tree outside her window. Sue was at Charlie's, as usual, and as Leah predicted Seth was sitting on the couch in the living room on his Xbox.

(She didn't want to walk in the front door and have to explain to Seth why she had no underwear and no pants... And Paul's shirt.)

The rest of that day passed fairly fast for Leah... In fact, it passed as though she were in a daze.

She'd showered, washed away what Paul had left behind and when she went to the bathroom, was surprised in how much taking a piss stung. Reminded her of when she lost her virginity to Sam and the tearing that came with it. It really _had _been a long time. After that Leah cooked supper for Seth.

"How's Paul?"

"What...?"

"I said, 'how's Paul'? You went to his house didn't you?"

"Oh, yeah... Yeah I did."

"So...?"

Leah looked over her shoulder at her brother and instantly it was though a million burning eyes had set their sights on her. He knew... No, he didn't... Did he? Fuck, he couldn't of... Nah, she was being paranoid. Or was she. What if they'd stopped by Paul's and they hadn't heard them? What if Rachel had found out...?

Shitfuckshitmotherfuckingcoc k.

...No. She _had_ to be paranoid.

"...Paul's fine, bite looked pretty good when I left. He could walk fine, move his toes and stuff."

"Oh, awesome. Not bad then."

"Nope."

And that was the end of that. When she went to bed, she laid awake and stared at the ceiling like she had done at Paul's. She had never intended for that to happen... She really hadn't, none of it. She just wanted to prove to Paul that for once, he was wrong; he was _not _okay and actually having somebody give a shit about you that wasn't your imprint wasn't fucking illegal.

She really had planned on helping him, then leaving; that was it. But Paul, he had to push and_ push..._

Shaking her head, pulling a hand through her hair she licked her lips, and remembered the taste of Paul on them; all teeth and tongue.

How she was going to survive tomorrow's group patrol without letting this slip...

She had no idea.

That group patrol came at 11 AM sharp. Something hard hit her door and Seth was yelling at her to get her ass up before Leah had really known she'd fallen asleep. Nevertheless she got out of bed, took another shower (just in case...) and pulled on some shorts and a three-quarter sleeve shirt.

She was sure the hickeys Paul had left were faded and gone; but one could never be too careful.

On her way to the patrol Leah contemplated the possibility that (no matter how crazy) the day before could've been all a dream. Maybe she was the one that got bitten; got saddled with some crazy as fuck hallucinations or something. She was drawn out of her reverie however when she and her brother reached the clearing... And Leah nearly tripped over a tree root.

Some of the boys cast her an odd look; clumsiness was rare in their kind, and Paul's look was the most suspicious of the bunch. Leah cursed and straightened herself up, tugging at the hem of her shirt and then picking at the denim of her shorts as she tried to regain some composure.

Smooth.

Sam cleared his throat and he and Jacob exchanged a few quiet words amongst themselves while the rest of the pack sat down on the fallen trees they utilized as benches. Leah cast maybe a glance or two at Paul... And on each look, he was staring right back at her.

Huh... Weird. She'd never really known Paul to be the sort of guy who wanted to intimidate or even talk to a girl he had fucked again. It was well-known information that Paul had been a player before he imprinted on Rachel. In fact, just before the imprint when he was basking in the new hot body phasing had given him, he was running a record through La Push and Forks.

(Maybe Paul had kids he didn't know about; it was that rampant.)

Maybe Paul was just trying to warn her, threaten her. '_Say anything bitch, think anything, and you're dead.'_

Whenever Leah caught Paul's eyes with her own, she looked down quick almost like she was ashamed. Paul wanted to scoff, but instead he crossed his arms. Yeah, she _should _be ashamed... Made Paul cheat on his imprint.

He tried to ignore that naggling little voice that chimed, '_it takes two.'_

"Paul, how's the leg today?"

Paul's head snapped up as Jacob started the morning's meeting by, of course, drawing attention to what had happened the day before. Fucking lovely. He looked down at his right limb out of reflex and noticed that the silver had now bled completely out of the flesh. When he woke up this morning he hadn't had any pain and he'd showered the night before, so he didn't really bother to give his leg a second glance. Looked worlds better.

"It's good, no issues."

"Awesome." Jacob slid his eyes to the lone shewolf of the pack. Wondering. But to Leah and Paul, his eyes only looked accusing. She swallowed underneath his gaze and didn't lift her eyes to his own; she never listened at these things anyways, right? Never gave Jake or Sam the time of day because christ, after everything they'd put her through, who _would_? She just had to play it normal... Play it casual.

And for the love of fuck, keep her mind OFF of it when they started to patrol.

Soon the aimless meeting chatter continued, Jacob giving some directions, talks of who would make the schedule for next week's circuit, things of the like and Paul noticed that the older alpha just wasn't really... Partaking in the discussion.

His brown eyes were roaming over Sam, examining his oldest friend and trying to figure out why he was staring at Leah like she had someone- ...Or something, to answer to. It wasn't jealousy; sometimes Leah and Sam shot eachother memories just to fight, to shut eachother up. No, this wasn't jealousy.

Couldn't be.

Paul watched the girl twitch, fidgit where she sat and he knew she was just as damn nervous and paranoid today as he was. Or maybe she could feel Sam's eyes on her, one could never really know with Leah. She lied through her teeth about almost anything, tried to piss people off to make them forget about the real problem at hand.

And that was just about as philosophical as Paul Lahote ever got.

"Everyone clear on that?"

"Crystal, Jake!" Brady and Collin, always so eager. They loved being wolves... They mirrored Seth in that fashion and clung to Jacob and Sam's every word. Sam who still had not spoken. As everyone stood from their seats and they began to walk a few feet off to their lonesomes, privacy for their phasing (Leah's in particular), Sam was on her heels in seconds.

"Leah."

She looked over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "I'm trying to phase here..."

"Did you go to Paul's yesterday?"

Jesus. Sam had been staring at her the entire meeting, she'd felt goosebumps raise on her flesh and anger pool in her stomach. She _hated_ him looking at her... Mostly because it never seemed to hurt him. Not like looking at him did. Maybe it was the fact that Sam was 'happy'... Happy in his no-free-will, imprinted bliss. Leah... Leah was just miserable. As always.

"...Maybe." _'Play it safe, Leah.'_

"Tell me."

"Why?"

A muscle twitched in Sam's jaw and he took a deep breath. Leah looked down, and Sam's knuckles were stark white against his taut copper skin. As she took in the sight a memory flickered by; the time Jared had come to beseech her to come home, the way Sam looked in best friend's mind... Almost frantic with rage. Maybe some worry, but that was pointless altogether. Why would he be angry now...? It certainly wasn't jealousy. Emily was everything Leah wasn't and more... The chosen one. And christ if that wasn't why Leah hated her in the first place.

(Void of the scarred bitch stabbing her in the back. _Sisters,_ for sure.)

"Leah," he started, "Paul is imprinted. Not that I'm saying you... Are a threat to Rachel; you're not." Leah cringed... Ouch. "But it's still not fair and I don't believe Rachel would be impressed if she knew you were there."

'Knew' Leah was there? Paul hadn't even told her... If he did, Rachel would've told Emily; Emily would've told her beloved.

"...You've got a lot of fuckin' nerve you know." She turned to face him, resisted the urge to spit right in his face. No, this wasn't jealousy. Not highschool-like, arrogant jealousy of knowing a wrong choice was made and nothing can change it. If Sam had any notion of what happened between she and Paul he was probably stewing in his britches, pissed to holy hell that imprinting wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Paul had looked at another woman, sought another woman's attention over his imprint and cheating and being away from them was physically possible without crippling, mind-bending pain. He was pissed, and jealous that, now... Instead of Sam being a dick possessed by love... He was just a motherfucking, cocksucking son of a bitch.

Who'd cheated on, and left his fiancee like his filthy father.

He narrowed his eyes at her and opened his mouth to reply but Leah cut him off. "Don't, Sam; don't say a'fucking'nother word to me. Not a _threat_ to Rachel? Jesus... Fuck you, you don't know shit that happened and you won't. Because nothing did."

She stalked away from him then and he cursed her name from behind but damn it if she slowed down. If she did, Sam just might find himself in an early grave. Leah was less worried about Sam finding out she fucked Paul then, she couldn't help it... She just needed to be away from him. He wouldn't say anything; she knew that bit. Because Paul would tear him down if he did for making Rachel go psychotic. In the back of her mind Leah hoped no one else had heard the exchange, and since she couldn't hear any surprised whispers or chatter she assumed they hadn't.

Once she was far enough away, Leah wiped at her eyes, and then she'd phased.

She hadn't wanted Sam to see her cry either.

As her four paws touched the ground, something... Moved in her periphery. She whined without meaning to.

Sam hadn't seen her cry... But Paul had.

He watched then with gritted teeth as Leah bolted out of the forest.

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><p><strong>MS: <strong>I've finally figured out where this fic is going, and it's going to have 5 chapters in all so after reading this, you can all know there are gonna be 2 more to come. :) Thanks so much guys, please review if you have the time! And don't forget, I'm regularly posting on twitter about my writing so if you're interested in keeping up, feel free to follow me at ashleyFLORENCE. :)


	4. Chapter 4

**MS: **Once again I manage to take forever to update... :/ But good news. Tomorrow, I write the last exam of my first year of nursing school... then I either have the summer to update, orrrrrr I fail out and have forever. Please, don't wish that I fail out. LOL. I hope you guys enjoy this; there's one chapter left after this one! And once again, if you guys have questions or just want to chat, feel free to send me an email or add me to Twitter!

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><p>Paul went home after that day's patrol like he did every night. He went home, found Rachel sitting at the table on her laptop and kissed her forehead, like he did every night.<p>

But something didn't feel... right.

Maybe it was awkwardness.  
>Maybe it was fear.<br>Maybe it was anger.  
>Maybe it was guilt.<p>

Jesus, maybe it was indigestion. Whatever the fuck it was, Paul didn't feel like himself. He rooted around in the cupboard for something edible, settled on a can of ravioli and spooned it into a plastic bowl.

_'Because Rachel isn't here and I wanna fuck.'_

His own words rebounded inside his head, played like the lyrics to a neverending song as he shoved his bowl into the microwave. He could feel Rachel's eyes on him, burning into his back and wondered once or twice if she knew.

Decided on the third try that if she didn't, something wasn't... _Right, _with her. Surely Sam let it slip to Emily by now what he and Leah did. Or did he... maybe his friend wouldn't do that to him. It was a nice thought. Paul had kept his mouth shut when Sam told him about falling in love with Emily behind Leah's back. (Paul wasn't going to even bother thinking about how much that pissed him off now. ...For some reason.)

Either that, or... Rachel didn't believe Emily. Didn't believe Sam.

_"Rachel trusts me to know when I'm okay and when I'm not."_

_"...I would be worried... I'd be home."_

As the microwave dinged Paul fetched his ravioli out of the hotbox and placed it on the counter before the steaming plastic burned him. After Leah had said that, Paul had tried to remind himself that Rachel was good at other things. That she was there for him, at other times. Like when he first imprinted on her.

And then remembered that she hadn't even given him the time of day before he'd phased. In fact, when other girls fell all over him and made him feel self-accomplished, Rachel had never given a damn. For someone her own age, she'd considered him Sam's asshole friend who didn't know how to keep his dick in his pants. Then he imprinted on her when she came home... and after weeks and weeks of begging, by himself and the rest of the pack...

She made time for him.

Paul took his bowl and plopped it down so hard some of the red sauce spattered the table. Rachel looked up from the glowing screen of her computer and raised a finely groomed brow.

"What's the matter with you?"

"Nothin'."

"Okay..."

She didn't sound convinced, but she let it lie.

_'Just like you to not bother anymore. Just like you,' _he thought. Paul started eating that pasta like it had committed a felony. Feeling like this, feeling angry... Paul was used to this. He was naturally an angry guy, he assumed, according to everyone else. He was always in a hot mood until someone pissed him off (then, hellllooooo boiling!) and he bulldozed over whatever the issue was.

Paul was made of aggression, courage and stubborn. Rolled into one 6'6 hunk of burning werewolf.

But this type of angry, of begotten, of... disappointment, was new to him.

He was an imprinted man, and as far as he knew, he should never feel those feelings. They shouldn't even exist for him when it came to Rachel. Imprinting was holy, sacred and all-knowing. It didn't mismatch people. Jared and Kim were imprinted bliss; Emily and Sam, role models to be had for the perfect couple. Jacob and Renesmee were happy as pigs in shit. Quil and Claire, christ no words even had to be said there. Imprinting removed all the negative aspects of your life, and tied you to the person who was supposed to do nothing but make you happy for the rest of eternity. Just as you were supposed to do the same... be the Great Protector; keep her safe, keep her happy... and she'd hold you to the ground as sure as your own gravity.

And now here he sat thinking of nothing but how he was disgusted with his relationship.

Almost like he was disgusted with his best friend for making Leah cry. Again.

As Paul thought her name, his healed leg gave a discomforting twinge as if to remind him that it wouldn't have healed so perfectly if Leah hadn't cleaned it, tended to it.

One messy fuck after a vampire attack, and suddenly he was in love with Leah Clearwater? That wasn't how this shit was supposed to work.

How the hell did he have sex with her in the first place? Paul admitted to not thinking about it at the time... A piece of ravioli slid down his throat the wrong way; he nearly choked for a minute and gave a harsh cough to set his innards right. He didn't think, about it, when he was inside her; had his fingers in her warmth.

No dude's ever really thinking then.

But now he thought and thought hard.

As he swallowed the last hunk of his Chef Boyardee Paul got up and dumped his bowl and fork in the sink, hearing the resounding clatter.

"Do you _need_ to be so loud all the time?"

Paul lifted his head and looked over his shoulder at her.

...Maybe Rachel truly didn't know. Maybe. Maybe Sam hadn't told Emily... maybe. Maybe Emily just hadn't told Rachel yet. Maybe.

Or maybe-

He walked out the door.

Leah reached out and stroked an awakening through the steam-covered mirror of her bathroom. As her reflection stared back at her she found it somewhat amusing how much the comparison of being awake or asleep truly suited the condensation-coated glass. How the shape of her hand had plowed a way through to reality... less dank, brighter. More real.

Then again, Leah thought as she remembered the events of the past two days, perhaps cloudy and invisible was a better way to be. Asleep... and mindless.

She tucked errant strands of her damp black hair behind her ears and took solace in the cool of her bathroom, a reprieve from the hot shower she'd had.

_'I can't wait.. Until Sam sees this.'_

She cringed. Watched her own eyes crease with pain, staring back at her.

Before going to the group patrol where Sam had verbally called her down for the hundredth time, Leah had been racking her brain trying to figure out why she'd actually gone along with Paul's revenge fuck. Then she remembered that starring moment... and couldn't really understand how she'd forgotten that scene in the first place.

Paul had just sunken deep into her, and she was staring at him over her shoulder. Imagining the look on Sam's face when he saw, through the packmind, his best friend buried balls-deep inside his ex. She had felt her chest warm with the satisfaction of seeing him phase in anger.

Maybe even a fight, between Paul and Sam.

And she had that chance today. She had that fucking chance... and she let it slip away.

Leah reached over her shoulder to the center of her spine, the copper expanse that lay between her shoulderblades. She could still feel the tenderness there... the imprint of Paul's teeth.

She slid her fingers a little to the right and met another twinge of pain. Bruises. Christ, even her scalp hurt a little ; possibly Paul had pulled out a few strands of her longer-now hair. Leah couldn't even _remember_ him doing that.

She had so much to shove into Sam Uley's face... to shove into the pack's faces. Watch Jacob go wide-eyed and regretful over not returning her fleeting feelings the months before. Give Embry one of those flustered, unsure faces he always got when something made him nervous. Make Jared doubt his lovelorn imprinted bliss with Kim. Ensure Collin and Brady had wet dreams for the next month. Laugh as Quil's brain was forcefully yanked out of infancy. Make Samuel Uley regret the day he ever told her he no longer loved her... that he loved Emily more. And...

...And watch Seth die of embarassment.

Okay so that wasn't a goal, but thinking about it now and how funny it would've been made Leah crack a faint smile.

**Knocknocknock.**

She pulled on her bathrobe and headed downstairs to the door. She could only imagine who it would be... (Started with R and ended with -achel; or an E with -mily.)

He stared back at her with clenched teeth; arms heaving at his sides.

...Not who she was expecting.

"What are you-"

Paul grabbed her forearm and all but shoved Leah back indoors. He closed the door behind them, locked it; raised his nose into the air and inhaled the scent of free Clearwater household: ...No Seth or Sue in sight.

Then he faced her again, stared her down as she stared right back him... hair wet, still dripping down the back of her silky robe. Her eyes wide, maybe with disbelief; maybe with surprise. Maybe with fear. Maybe... hope.

Paul actually found that he liked all those options.

"You never said anything to Sam."

"...What?"

"You never told Sam we screwed. You actually kept your mouth shut, like you fuckin' said you would."

Leah stammered. "I.. I-"

"Jesus fucking christ... Rachel has no goddamn idea!" Paul raised his hands to his hair as though he was going to pull the inky mop right the hell out. When they lowered to his sides again, saw the confused look on Leah's face, he growled. "...You had the perfect arsenal against his bullshit to fire back with, to get back at him for all the times he made you fucking cry yourself to sleep, made you watch him fuck Emily in his head and pretend that-.. that HORRIBLE sex was good..! ...And you kept. your goddamn. mouth shut."

To say Leah was floored was somewhat of an understatement.

Her thoughts in the bathroom just minutes before came flying back to her and she swallowed roughly.

"I didn't want to ruin you and Rachel..!"

That was the truth, wasn't it. Paul was pacing the floor and he paused, glared at her. It almost made Leah quiver.

"...That's my point, Leah..." Paul shook his head. "That's my friggen point. You wanted to spare me and Rachel... _Me _and _Rachel!_ THINK of a goddamn time when we didn't give you shit! When we didn't treat you like you were a fucking lepper because you had nobody and the rest of us all felt like we belonged!"

Leah's jaw was pretty much kissing the floor.

"You're... you're MAD at me because I didn't snitch on you and ruin your relationship?! ...Your perfect_, imprinted_ RELATIONSHIP?!"

They were almost screaming at eachother now.

"YOU KNEW ALL ALONG IT WASN'T PERFECT!"

Leah was gulping air like a fish on its way to the other side. She didn't know what to say... what to do. Or even the first step in the process of understanding why Paul was there. She was nearly knocked off her feet when Paul grabbed her forearms again, shoved her backwards until she met the wall of the Clearwaters' living room. She was almost shaking when he brought his face real close to hers. Almost scared.

Paul took a deep breath. The deep browns of his eyes swirled, flickered like a chestnut flame was licking away at his irises. Leah's breathing only got quicker when she recognized the movement as the animal within, wanting to come out. Wanting to say hello.

It seemed like a fortnight that they stood there, both combatants trying to remember how to speak... how to put their thoughts, their confusion, their emotions into words.

Finally Paul spoke again.

"...You made me realize that you were right... all along. I don't fucking love Rachel... and, and my chest fucking HURTS, it's tearing me the hell apart...!"

Leah was still shaking as she reached a hand out, muttered something Paul couldn't determine, and pressed her palm over his heart. It was trying to beat out of his chest. Paul had felt the pain start the moment the door of his house slammed behind him. Before his feet hit the grass it was a full-blown crushing weight that doubled in intensity, tripled when he'd reached the front steps of Leah's porch.

"You made me hate her, Leah. Fuck, I hate what I've become since gettin' with her... I hate imprinting. I hate it for pairing me up with her. And I hate-"

"Me...?" Her voice was as soft as her hand on his chest.

He swallowed roughly, the colors settling in his eyes for a moment and the pain taking a sharp turn towards his leg... the healing bite. Paul slowly looked down at the limb between them, and remembered with shocking clarity.

_Leah sat up and Paul watched her, assuming she was ready to leave. But instead she leant forward, breasts swaying with the movement and she gently pushed the balled sheets of Paul's bed away from his right calf and ankle._

_"How does it feel...?"_

"I don't hate you. I thought I did. I wish I fucking did."

Paul felt a growl of emotion bubble out of his chest. He moved his arms from the walls beside Leah's head, raised both hands to grip her face in his coarse palms and he mashed his mouth to her own. The kiss was all lips, tongue and teeth. It was a male wolf, a strong wolf... a beta, taking what he now fully intended to claim in the wake of loss.

In the wake of... Paul's inner wolf rumbled real low-like.

In the wake of _waking up._

"...But I don't."

They were so close, pressed chest to chest... she could feel the beating of Paul's heart. Could actually feel the forceful, sustained pumping as though something were trying to squeeze the tender life out of the organ. Leah could feel Paul's trembling... the shake of his hands where he held her cheeks.

Leah could feel the bulge of his groin, too... pressing against her heat.

And the way he looked at her, well that made Leah feel something entirely different altogether.

"...Take it all back."

His deep eyes narrowed in confusion.

"What?"

"Take it all back," Leah swallowed so heavily Paul practically felt the vibrations in her jawline. "All of it. ...If you don't, this is gonna happen again... and again."

Paul shook his head. "So?"

Leah gritted her teeth... pushed him away from her.

"You're turning me into her..!"

"Who?!"

"Emily."

Paul sucked in a ragged breath, then let it go somewhat hollowly. He watched the emotions play across Leah's face, watched her raise a hand to sweep back sweat-and-water-damp hair.

Paul shook his head. "...You ain't like Emily."

"How can you not see the resemblance!?"

"How can you?!" Paul's shoulders almost sagged a little. Leah opened her mouth to find words, but there were none.

"...You ain't Emily, Leah... Not in the plainest sense. Emily broke up a happy relationship... Sam never had a choice."

Leah looked away from him and gritted her teeth. Not this shit again...

"...You're not breakin' up anything that is, or ever was.. happy."

And those words might've hurt Paul worse than the pain stoking away in his chest.

But when Leah opened her arms and held him, it made it just a little better.


End file.
